Journal of Industrial Ecology最新文献

The expansion of the electric grid is inevitable. Renewable energy is on the rise, and new transmission lines must be built to link new electricity production facilities with the local network. In addition, higher electricity demand due to electrification will lead to the growth of the distribution grid. However, further construction of power lines will affect the local biodiversity. Birds are especially vulnerable: every year, power lines cause the deaths of hundreds of millions of birds by collision and electrocution. Yet the environmental impacts of the electric grid in life cycle assessment (LCA) are limited to a few impact categories, failing to cover the area of protection for damages to ecosystem quality. We developed the first methodology to quantify power lines' collision and electrocution impacts on bird richness within LCA. We calculated the potentially disappeared fraction of species (PDF) by developing species–area relationships using high-resolution species distribution maps, species-specific characteristics, and the location of power lines and pylons. We applied our models to Norway, a country that aims to become a low-emission nation by 2050. The characterization factors ranged between 8.48 × 10⁻¹⁶ and 5.6 × 10⁻¹⁵ PDF*yr/kWh for collision and 3.27 × 10⁻¹⁸ and 1.66 × 10⁻¹⁶ PDF*yr/kWh for electrocution. Integrating power lines’ impacts on biodiversity in LCA is essential, as harmonized models can estimate the effects of electricity production alongside the impacts of electricity distribution. This brings us a step further in promoting a holistic assessment of energy systems.

Recent scholarship has advocated a conceptual investigation of rebound effect theory in the circular economy (CE) context. While the available body of knowledge on a circular economy rebound (CER) is rather scant, this forum article proposes a conceptual view of existing CER approaches. Our analysis reveals that the CER literature has largely bypassed an appreciation of how firm behavior is embedded in and canalized by governance arrangements. This forum article contributes to the literature by reconceptualizing the challenges of mitigating CERs. It proposes to re-focus the CER debate toward: (i) the innovation need of functional collective commitments for CE to address free-rider-problems; (ii) the criticality of effective management of decoupling through innovative circular governance; (iii) the critical reflection of calls for degrowth and “non-optimization” behavior; and (iv) the recognition of optimization behavior and circular governance frameworks as complementary rather than substitute approaches for facilitating CER mitigation.

Most life cycle assessment (LCA) studies use the attributional methodology. This approach attributes a share of global environmental impacts to one or multiple functions provided by a normatively circumscribed system. Multifunctional systems that are not technologically subdivisible between co-functions are frequently encountered in LCA studies. It then becomes necessary to resort to co-production modeling techniques, like the substitution approach. The use of substitution modeling in attributional LCA (ALCA) is, however, discouraged amongst practitioners, due to the alleged violation of central requirements of the attributional methodology. The objective of this research is to shed light on common misconceptions about the compatibility of substitution with ALCA. The first misconception is that the use of substitution in ALCA violates the conservation of total environmental impacts. We find that this idea arises from a confusion regarding the attribution of impacts to the secondary product(s). The second misconception stipulates that substitution is not coherent with the state-descriptive characteristic of ALCA. We conclude that we can describe a given system as resulting from an inferred (substitution) change, rather than as disrupted by this change. Finally, we discuss the choice of the substituted technology, and argue there is a logic to marginal substitution in ALCA. We therefore recommend accepting substitution modeling in ALCA.

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is highly needed and widely used to assess the environmental performance of circular economy (CE) measures such as reusing and sharing. However, the results of such LCAs are hampered by limited knowledge about the use phase of consumer products and oversimplification of important use phase aspects such as product functionality, user behavior, displacement, and rebound effects. This paper aims to validate the usefulness of a framework designed to assist practitioners in the generation and utilization of such knowledge in LCAs of circular measures. To validate the framework, a case study is used: reuse of shell jackets enabled by “premium secondhand” stores for outdoor equipment and clothing. The paper demonstrates that conclusions about the environmental performance of reuse can easily be altered depending on the functional unit definition, whether real user behavior data are used, and whether imperfect displacement and rebound effects are considered. For instance, shell jacket life cycles that include reuse and thus may be labeled “circular” have significantly higher environmental impact per use occasion than “linear” ones (used by one principal user the entire lifespan), since “circular” shell jackets are used less frequently, in particular during their first use span. Through facilitating the generation and utilization of environmentally relevant use phase data, which are otherwise often overlooked, the framework seems capable of supporting a better understanding of the environmental performance of CE measures.

This study contrasts two different approaches to inform European-scale decision-making to mitigate the environmental impacts of the end-of-life tires (ELT) management system. The first analysis is a traditional life cycle assessment (LCA) that compares the environmental performances of the 12 main available European end-of-life (EOL) technologies in ELT processing while restricting the boundaries to the EOL stage. The second analysis has a broader scope, addressing the optimization of the ELT distribution within the 12 considered pathways to minimize the environmental impacts of the total tire use in Europe under present capacity and constraints. The results of the traditional LCA show that, except for landfill, all the tested EOL routes present environmental benefits. Material recovery pathways bring the most environmental credits, whereas civil engineering pathways are the least promising. The LCA results that emerged from the optimization of ELT management technologies yield two optimal technological mixes that maximize the quantity of ELT recycled in molded objects production: such results represent a hypothetical case with no constraints. When considering constraints, that is, limitations on maximum quantities of ELT that can undergo retreading, pyrolysis, or recycling in synthetic turfs, in molded objects and in production, the number of optimal technology mixes increases to five. The type of technologies favored depends on the minimized impact categories (climate change, fossil and nuclear energy use, human health, and ecosystem quality). A comparison between constrained and unconstrained scenarios shows that achieving the best environmental performances is conditional to the accessibility of the EOL technologies as well as their individual environmental impacts.

The deployment of renewable energy generation technologies, driven primarily by concerns over catastrophic climate change, is expected to increase rapidly in the United States. Rapid increases in the deployment of wind and solar energy will translate to increases in critical material requirements, causing concern that demand could outstrip supply, leading to mineral price volatility and potentially slowing the energy transition. This study presents a detailed demand-side model for wind and solar in the United States using dynamic material flow analysis to calculate the requirements for 15 elements: Cr, Zn, Ga, Se, Mo, Ag, Cd, In, Sn, Te, Pr, Nd, Tb, Dy, and Pb. Results show that transitioning to a completely decarbonized US energy system by 2050 could require a five-to-sevenfold increase in critical material flow-into-use compared with business as usual (BAU), with some materials requiring much larger increases. Rare earth elements (REEs) could require 60–300 times greater material flows into the US power sector in 2050 than in 2021, representing 13%–49% of the total global REE supply. Te requirements for reaching net zero by 2050 could exceed current supply, posing challenges for widespread deployment of cadmium-telluride solar. We also investigate several strategies for reducing material requirements, including closed-loop recycling, material intensity reduction, and changing market share of subtechnologies (e.g., using crystalline silicon solar panels instead of cadmium telluride). Although these strategies can significantly reduce critical material requirements by up to 40% on average, aggressive decarbonization will still require a substantial amount of critical material.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST STATEMENT

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Urban development is a key driver of global biodiversity loss. “Green” infrastructure is integrated to offset some impacts of development on ecosystem quality by supporting urban biodiversity, a prominent example being green roofs. The effects of green infrastructures on urban biodiversity are not well understood and poorly included in life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology. Here, we present a novel methodology that quantifies the local impact of green infrastructures on terrestrial biodiversity—demonstrated here for sedum roofs in London, UK—and integrates within LCA. It relates energy provision by plants to the metabolic requirements of animals to determine what species richness (number of species) and species abundance (number of individuals) are supported. We demonstrate this methodology using a case study, comparing the life cycle impact of developing 18 buildings, with either asphalt concrete or sedum roofs, on ecosystem quality. We found the sedum roofs (0.018 km²) support 53 species (673 individuals), equivalent to 1.3% of the development's life cycle impacts on ecosystem quality. Complete offsetting requires considerable reduction in transport use throughout the development's lifetime, and lower environmental impact material selection during construction (contributing 98% and 2%, respectively). The results indicate sedum roofs offer minor impact mitigation capacities in the context of urban development, and this capacity is limited for all green infrastructures by species richness in local species pools. This paper demonstrates the potential and limitations of quantifying terrestrial biodiversity offsets offered by green infrastructures alongside urbanization, and the need for realistic expectations of what role it might play in sustainable urban design.

Product–service systems (PSS) have the potential to align businesses’ financial incentives with environmental objectives. Conceptual and qualitative research on non-ownership consumption suggests that such offerings benefit from dense local networks, which motivate system adoption and use. However, geographic network effects and their magnitude have not been examined with field data capturing revealed behavior. This paper leverages a large field dataset from a system for reusable take-out food containers to evaluate the effect of increased geographic network density of participating restaurants on (a) the acquisition of new users and (b) the frequency of system use. Based on fixed effects Poisson panel models, this paper finds statistically significant and practically meaningful positive effects of increased geographic network density on acquiring new users. Notably, marginal effects of increased geographic network density on user acquisition diminish as networks get denser. In terms of frequency of use, no significant effects of geographic network density are identified. These results contribute to the literature on non-ownership consumption by presenting nuanced field evidence of indirect, cross-side network effects in PSS. Furthermore, findings encourage businesses and policymakers to promote PSS with dense local networks.

The production of materials from mineral resources is a significant contributor to anthropogenic CO₂ emissions. This contribution is driven primarily by chemical CO₂ emissions from the conversion of mineral resources and emissions tied to energy demands for material processing. In this work, we synthesize the thermodynamically required enthalpy and chemically derived emissions of mineral processing and consumption in the United States. We quantify mass, enthalpy, and emissions flows for minerals described by the US Geological Survey, with 882 mass flows and 155 chemical reactions analyzed. In total, 503 PJ of enthalpy is thermodynamically required for 398 Mt of chemically converted material consumption in the United States, resulting in 129 Mt of chemically derived CO₂ emissions. Additionally, 249 PJ of fuel resources such as coke are stoichiometrically required for the chemical conversion of minerals. These enthalpy requirements and CO₂ emissions are primarily from high-mass consumption materials such as cement, carbon steel, fertilizer, and aluminum. Cumulatively, the dataset synthesized in this work provides a complete view of the chemical requirements of mineral processing and can aid in guiding decarbonization or sustainable growth in critical minerals sectors, including construction materials and materials for energy storage or generation.